While Congress and the president argue over the conditions for raising the debt ceiling, Americans are worried. There seems to be no solution that both sides will accept. Neither political party wants to appear to be the loser in the debate, so we may be headed for fiscal disaster. Is there a way out of this?

The proposal would replace the current tax code with a single rate tax of 12 percent on all income earned above a livable minimum, with no deductions for anything. All income is treated the same, whether it comes from wages and salaries, rent, interest, dividends, business profit or capital gain.We can debate what a livable minimum would be. We could make it $10,000 for an adult and $5,000 for a child, so that a family of four can earn $30,000 without paying any tax. Every dollar earned above $30,000 would be taxed at 12 percent, no matter how many dollars are earned. Under this proposal, everyone wins.

President Obama and the Senate want to raise additional tax revenue over the next 10 years to pay for additional public investment and to reduce the annual deficit. At one point, the president wanted to raise $1.2 trillion in additional revenue over the next 10 years. In 2011, the personal federal income tax raised just under $1.1 trillion. If the 12-percent solution had been in place, it would have raised more than $1.3 trillion. Over the next 10 years, this proposal would raise about $2.5 trillion in additional revenue, more than twice what Obama wanted. He would be happy with that outcome.

Speaker Boehner and the House of Representatives want tax rates as low as possible. This proposal sets the rate at 12 percent on all income above the livable minimum for all taxpayers. It also lowers the rate on all corporations to 12 percent. Boehner wants the rate low to encourage business investment and also so that American companies that relocated their corporate headquarters overseas, to avoid high tax rates, would bring their headquarters back to the U.S. Boehner would be happy.

All Americans want to see the economy grow at a more rapid pace. In the last five years, economic growth has barely exceeded population growth. The result is that the unemployment rate stays stubbornly high. The real problem is that slow growth creates almost no new job opportunities. This has been a huge problem for everyone, but especially for the millennials (aged 18 to 29), who graduate from school with almost no good prospects for employment. The 12-percent proposal would add significantly to growth, likely doubling the current growth rates and creating numerous entry-level positions for young people. All Americans win.

Most taxpayers complain that the current tax code is too complicated and, because of special deductions that apply to specific individuals, some people are paying less than their fair share. The 12-percent proposal eliminates all deductions and ensures that every taxpayer pays exactly the same share of his or her income (above the livable minimum). The taxpayers win.

Nina Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, recently reported to Congress that taxpayers spend 6.1 billion hours per year collecting data, filling out the tax forms and complying with the almost 4 million words in the current tax code. The 12-percent proposal will require only a few hours from each taxpayer. Someone simply adds up all of his or her income from every source, subtracts the livable minimum, then multiples the balance by 12 percent. That’s the tax liability. Taxpayers win again.

Changing the current tax code to this 12-percent single rate tax on all income above a livable minimum, with no deductions, will satisfy everyone involved. It is a proposal that is equitable, efficient, causes no distortions in any market and is extremely easy to administer. It also would add significant growth to the economy, raise much more revenue and, most important, provide a new philosophy for taxpayers: Above the livable minimum, we are all treated exactly the same — no special treatment for anyone. Who could possibly oppose all of that?